(Margaret Atwood) The Blind Assassin A sci-fi novel within a ’40s noir novel, two mystery deaths and a twisteroo at the end. Much anticipated, and sure to get a lot of press. (Sept.)

(Tom Perrotta) Joe College Perrotta, one of America’s best-kept literary secrets, isn’t likely to stay unknown much longer. He’s at his ruefully funny best in this bittersweet comedy about a working-class boy from New Jersey at Yale circa 1980. (Sept.)

(Kazuo Ishiguro) When We Were Orphans The master of post-Jamesian nuance (“Remains of the Day”) spins a subtle tale of an orphan who grows up to become a detective able to solve any mystery–except the mystery of his parents’ disappearance. (Sept.)

(Michael Chabon) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay An epic novel of–no kidding–the comic-book industry in the golden age of the 1940s, in which two cousins create a masked hero called the Escapist. Supposed to be Chabon’s big one. (Sept.)

(Regis Philbin) Who Wants to Be Me? The host of TV’s most popular game show vents–on anything and everything. (Sept.)

(Mary Karr) Cherry Picking up where she left off in her hit memoir “The Liar’s Club,” Karr careers into her teens, where she discovers dope, adolescent angst and sex. Not the delightful surprise the first installment was–this time we know she can write–so let’s just call it plain delightful. (Oct.)

(Stephen King) On Writing Sensible tips from the master for the aspiring, plus some early memories–and the grisly true story of the accident that almost killed him in 1999. (Oct.)

(Tom Wolfe) Hooking Up A novella, a short story and specimens of his justly praised nonfiction reportage–including the title piece, on teen sex. (Oct.)

(Philip Pullman) The Amber Spyglass Pullman may not be as popular as J. K. Rowling. But in the world of young-adult fiction he’s a big deal, and so is this final volume of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy. We’ll find out what happens to the armored polar bear and the scariest mommy since Joan Crawford. (Oct.)

(Barbara Kingsolver) Prodigal Summer With the Appalachians as backdrop, Kingsolver (“The Poisonwood Bible”) weaves together the stories of a reclusive biologist, a city girl turned farm wife and a couple of elderly, feuding neighbors. She has that rare knack: she’s widely popular and deadly serious at the same time. (Nov.)

(Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.) A Life in the Twentieth Century Volume one of the historian’s memoirs, from Midwestern childhood to mid-century liberalism in crisis. (Nov.)